Kyle and her husband moved to Brookfield in 1986. She became active in local politics and started blogging in 2004. Her focus is primarily on local issues but often includes state and national topics, too. Kyle looks at things from the taxpayers' perspective in a creative, yet down to earth way, addressing them from a practical point of view.

The Journal Sentinel article last Monday reported "Ponto said it makes no sense for the council to consider whether to endorse the station project without knowing its costs and without knowing who will be governor next year."

Mayor Ponto and I have emailed back and forth on this issue a few times. He wrote: "I must tell you that I would not recommend moving forward with a rail station in Brookfield on the information I have seen thus far." and "When we have a final proposal, I will tell the Council what I think and do so substantially in advance of the relevant meeting."

Right now we are debating if Wisconsin can afford this "free" short little rail line from Milwaukee to Madison, that will cost American taxpayers nearly $1 Billion dollars and Wisconsin taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 Million a year to operate. (Let's see, that works out to how much per mile?)

That $10 Million a year that comes right out of Wisconsin's Transportation Fund to operate just 70 miles of track that only serves the Milwaukee/Madison area. How will our state, or country for that matter, afford the additional runs to Minneapolis, LaCrosse, KRM, and Green Bay, not to mention the other proposed rail lines in our nation? (The Wisconsin Transportation Fund was to pay for needed infrastructure like bridges, the Interstate, and Wisconsin highways that most Wisconsinites utilize, not a rail line that only a small minority will use.)

We must stop this train. It isn't a matter of wouldn't it be nice to have a train?; we simply cannot afford it! (It would be nice to have a solarium on my house too, but it costs too much.) Our state of Wisconsin is projected to be $386 Million in the hole by December 2010. We cannot afford what we now have, much less a whole new train system.

Last Tuesday, Gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker again stated his opposition to the Milwaukee to Madison train project at a press conference near the proposed Brookfield train station site. Walker affirmed he would STOP the train,should he be elected as Wisconsin's next governor. He has cited the Blue Shirt sculpture as an example of how it is possible to stop already contracted work.

We must knock "high" speed train off its rails before Wisconsin is railroaded into a new massive, wasteful spending project that we cannot afford.

In the meantime, thanks again Mayor Ponto for delaying the Brookfield train station decision. It was a step in the right direction.

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